With win, Quakes eclipse recent expansion teams

Starting with last November’s expansion draft, a virtual parade of MLS analysts came forward to say, “Hey, this team looks like it could be the best expansion side since the Chicago Fire in 1998.” After last night’s thrilling victory over the Wizards, we have a reply: “Good prediction, virtual parade of analysts!”

Yes, it’s official: The 2008 San Jose Earthquakes, with 25 points from 22 games and a 6-9-7 record, are out-performing the most recent trio of MLS expansion teams.

Back in 2005, Chivas had accumulated a measly 12 points through their first 22 matches and ended the season with a woeful 18 points from their 4-22-6 record. Real Salt Lake was somewhat better, tallying 19 points from their first 22, but they went 0-9-1 in their last 10 games to finish with just 20 points. So, both of those sides have already been left in the dust.

Toronto FC came on board in 2007, and they were a bit better than both Chivas USA and RSL. After 22 matches, they had earned 20 points from a 5-12-5 record. TFC finished the season 6-17-7 for 25 points — exactly as many points as the Quakes have now. San Jose will put the Reds in the rear-view mirror with their next point.

Of course, being the best recent expansion team doesn’t mean much when your goal is to reach the playoffs. Last night’s win has the Quakes just two points behind third-place Chivas USA and five points behind second place RSL with eight games to play, five of which will be played at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Game on.

• • •

Here’s the post-game press wrap:

- Our own Jeff Carlisle, writing for MLSnet.com, has a match report and a feature on the amazing Darren Huckerby.  MLSnet also has video highlights, which we present below, as well as a post-game video interview with Hucks:

- The San Jose Mercury News has a match report, as does the Kansas City Star.

Frank Yallop post-game interview
Saturday, August 30

With Saturday night’s 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Wizards, the Earthquakes have vaulted past Colorado and now stand just two points behind third place Chivas USA.  Click on the headline above or on “Read More” to hear Earthquakes coach Frank Yallop’s comments about the big win. Read more

Darren Huckerby post-game interview
Saturday, August 30

Click on the headline above or on “Read More” to hear San Jose midfielder Darren Huckerby talk about his game winning goal in the Earthquakes’ 2-1 win over Kansas City. Read more

Ronnie O’Brien post-game interview
Saturday, August 30

Click on the headline above or on “Read More” to hear Earthquakes midfielder Ronnie O’Brien talk about the team’s 2-1 win Saturday night. Read more

Joe Cannon post-game interview
Saturday, August 30

Center Line Soccer’s Jay Hipps spoke with Earthquakes goalkeeper Joe Cannon after Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards. Click on the headline above or “Read More” to hear our exclusive interview. Read more

Huckerby the hero in 2-1 win over Wizards

Darren Huckerby celebrates after scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 Earthquakes victory over the Kansas City Wizards, at Buck Shaw Stadium, in Santa Clara , Ca, Saturday, August 30, 2008. Photo by John Todd/isiphotos.com/centerlinesoccer.com 

Additional Center Line Soccer coverage includes:
- Photo gallery
- Audio interviews with coach Frank Yallop and players Darren Huckerby, Ronnie O’Brien, and Joe Cannon

(Para este articulo en español, haz clic aquí.) 

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - With seven minutes remaining in Saturday’s match with the Kansas City Wizards, the San Jose Earthquakes were staring the specter of past failures right in the face. The Quakes had controlled most of the match, and deservedly gone ahead, only to cough up their mojo and their lead in the second half. It had all the makings of another two points carelessly thrown away. Read more

Quakes vs Kansas City Wizards

The Quakes are on a roll! The San Jose Earthquakes have extended their unbeaten streak to seven games with a defeat of the Kansas City Wizards 2-1 at home in front of a very happy crowd on August 30, 2008 - Santa Clara, Calif.

We’re off to see the Wizards

Or, more accurately, the Wizards are off to see the Quakes, because we are definitely not in Kansas anymore. (Or Missouri, for that matter.)

If you haven’t checked it out already, and if we may be immodest for a moment, do check out our interview with Jimmy Conrad. We talked about a lot of interesting stuff, including the 2006 World Cup and San Jose’s MLS Cup victory in 2001. For example, Jimmy had this bit of insight to offer about the worst-to-first Quakes of that year:

 In (San Jose in) 2001, we had a lot of guys who were just on the brink of what they were going to become. Wade Barrett, Richard Mulrooney, Joe Cannon — and we just had so much to prove. And we ended up getting a coach in Frank Yallop who was thinking the same exact thing. We had Troy Dayak, who was coming back from a serious injury, and he had a lot to prove. Jeff Agoos had just gotten traded and he had a lot to prove. Everybody had that same thing, that chip on their shoulder.

We didn’t bring it up at the time, but while Jimmy was saying this, the first thought through our head was, gee, that sounds an awful lot like the team we have right now. Being an expansion team means that every player on the side is a cast-off from somewhere else. Jason Hernandez? Ryan Cochrane? Ned Grabavoy? All left exposed by their former teams in the expansion draft. Nick Garcia and Scott Sealy? Deemed expendable by the Wizards. Darren Huckerby? Arturo Alvarez? Rudely cast aside by a new managers. Granted, many of the new Quakes were pleased to be sent to San Jose (Cochrane, Joe Cannon, Ramiro Corrales, Ronnie O’Brien), but that doesn’t change the fact that their previous clubs decided they weren’t worth keeping around for one reason or another.

It’s likely that Yallop hasn’t pushed this particular motivational button very often this year. It probably wouldn’t work very well when a team is struggling, as the Quakes were in the first half of the season. (Saying, “our record is awful, and have I mentioned that you guys were all discarded by your former teams?” would create more animosity than motivation.) But in the right circumstances, when the team is performing well but needs to dig just a bit deeper to push themselves over the top, it could be a useful tool. Or maybe, just enough for an epic playoff run.

• • •

Here’s the pre-game press wrap, along with a few miscellaneous items:

- Our own Jeff Carlisle, writing for MLSnet.com, reports that Ned Grabavoy is likely to be replacing the injured Ramiro Corrales in the San Jose lineup.

- The San Jose Mercury News, and this is extremely ironic, takes a cue from CLS and interviews Jimmy Conrad for their pre-game piece.  It’s not ironic that they’re doing what we’re doing — no, that’s merely good sense. It’s ironic because we edited out a small section from our Conrad interview where we discussed media coverage of soccer in the Bay Area, and he made this observation: “The Mercury News is terrible. It’s embarrassingly bad.” Oh well — someday they’ll give the Quakes the coverage they deserve, and drive CLS out of business. Until then — well, has anyone else besides Jeff Carlisle reported that Corrales is expected to be out 4-8 weeks with his MCL sprain? Can you imagine a key player for, say, the 49ers going down and the Chronicle not reporting his prognosis?

-  The Kansas City Star takes the “players taking on former teammates” angle, too, except they focus primarily on Nick Garcia and Scott Sealy. We liked this quote from Garcia: “I can see why people come out here and never want to leave.”

- Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney strikes a similar chord on his blog, with “When Old Friends Meet.”

- Other pre-game stories come from the San Mateo Daily Journal, Goal.com, and the AP, along with the match fact sheet from the Quakes.

-  The Offside Rules has a cool video clip from Earthquakes supporters group the 1906 Ultras. (In fact, it looks to us like the work of CLS contributor Harvey Rañola.)

- Former Quake Joe Vide, picked up by DC United after being released by the Quakes, scored the first goal of his career last Saturday against Colorado and has been rewarded with Goal of the Week honors.

Jimmy Conrad — The one that got away

Jimmy Conrad, seen here with Brian McBride closing down Italy’s Andrea Pirlo in Kaiserslautern, counts his World Cup 2006 experience as one of the top highlights of his career so far. Photo: Trent Davol, isiphotos.com.

Every fisherman has stories about the one that got away, and every general manager who’s been in the game long enough has made at least one trade that didn’t work out as anticipated. In the past, with players like Brian Ching, Brian Mullan, and Ricardo Clark, the Earthquakes have done a remarkable job in acquiring players just before they blossomed into stardom. The team’s timing failed them, though, when they traded Jimmy Conrad to the Kansas City Wizards for two draft picks — a second-round draft pick in 2003 and a conditional pick in 2004 — in January, 2003. Read more

Hanley: Quakes, Wizards will be playing to win

Summer signing Josh Wolff will be looking to inject a spark into Kansas City’s attack. Photo: John Todd, centerlinesoccer.com, isiphotos.com. 

Dog days and crunch time.  Two teams looking for three points, both with playoff visions.  A must win?  Yes.  The season in MLS can be split into two separate categories:  Regular and Playoff. We’ve seen teams have less than stellar regular seasons and yet travel pretty far in the playoffs, even winning the whole darn thing.  We seen teams play as good a regular season as conceivably possible and yet get knocked out in the first round.  But the thing is, one has to get into the post season to find out!  San Jose and Kansas City each have a chance for post season playoff glory, but the deck is stacked against them.  A team has to be able to win, especially at home.  The stats show an MLS team win on the road is a rare thing.  The Earthquakes can help themselves out a great deal this weekend by proving three points at Buck Shaw is a given. Read more

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